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Video: Cyclist does a Chris Froome as he runs to finish after crash

US rider Eamon Lucas secured 10th place in Belgian kermesse after picking himself up and hotfooting it to the line

Remember Chris Froome running hell for leather up Mont Ventoux to try and keep the yellow jersey after he was caught up in a crash during the 2016 Tour de France? That’s the image that springs to mind watching this footage of an American rider sprinting for the line after he crashed at a race in Belgium at the weekend – and he managed to hold on for 10th place.

The incident happened at the Gullegem Kermesse race in Flanders, with Eamon Lucas’s bike left unrideable after he came down inside the closing 300 metres when another rider moved across him.

But rather than his race ending there and then, he decided to pick himself up off the ground, and ran for the line, with Lucas, who rides for the Belgian team Shifting Gears-Geldhof Jielker making it home in 10th place.

Because it is an amateur race, UCI rules that require a rider to have their bike with them when they cross the line weren’t applicable, and organisers allowed the result to stand.

That contrasts with the situation Froome found himself in three years ago, when there was no replacement bike immediately at hand, leading him to decide to run towards the finish, which due to high winds on the upper slopes of Mont Ventoux had been brought forward to the village of Bedoin.

A new bike did arrive, but initially it looked like the Team Sky rider would lose two minutes to Richie Porte and Bauke Mollema, who were also involved in the incident, which happened when a race moto immediately in front of them stalled.

However, commissaires decided to give defending champion Froome the same time as them, and hewould go on to win his third yellow jersey in Paris, making it four when he retained his title the following year.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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6 comments

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simonmb | 4 years ago
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As laudable as their efforts are, I can't help feeling the rule should be changed to ensure they cross the line with their bike - whatever condition it is in.

They have Nige for inspiration here too...

https://youtu.be/pS0gKOLG5W4

 

 

 

Avatar
Htc replied to simonmb | 4 years ago
0 likes
simonmb wrote:

As laudable as their efforts are, I can't help feeling the rule should be changed to ensure they cross the line with their bike - whatever condition it is in.

They have Nige for inspiration here too...

https://youtu.be/pS0gKOLG5W4

 

 

 

That is the present UCI rule, the race organisers have given him the placing when in reality they shouldn’t have. It’s either a bike race or it’s not.

Avatar
Htc replied to simonmb | 4 years ago
0 likes
simonmb wrote:

As laudable as their efforts are, I can't help feeling the rule should be changed to ensure they cross the line with their bike - whatever condition it is in.

They have Nige for inspiration here too...

https://youtu.be/pS0gKOLG5W4

 

 

 

That is the present UCI rule, the race organisers have given him the placing when in reality they shouldn’t have. It’s either a bike race or it’s not.

Avatar
alansmurphy | 4 years ago
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But not always the end of the descent, ouch!

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KINGHORN | 4 years ago
1 like

"which due to high winds on the upper slopes of Mont Ventoux had been brought forward to the village of Bedoin."

 

Think you will find it was Chalet Reynard, Bedoin is the start of the climb!

Avatar
kjwalpole | 4 years ago
1 like

"run towards the finish, which due to high winds on the upper slopes of Mont Ventoux had been brought forward to the village of Bedoin."

Chalet Reynard, not Bedoin.

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